W/e 05/06/26 - Boards of Canada, Francis of Delirium, Violet Grohl, Guided by Voices, Midfield General
Congrats to Violet Grohl, our winner this week, has the tune of the week and I imagine she’ll be very happy to hear she’s a handful of places above her Dad’s offering from a month ago. Not too far off our overall top 100, which isn’t a bad debut.
Board of Canada were unsurprisingly a bit of an acquired taste and land in our bottom 5 for the year.
Mark has is first😊 for over a year, although he must share it with Si. Andy’s takes the ☹️.
Midfield General were a nice reminder for a few of a somewhat lost genre, and says Hi to XTC and Television on the classics.
Andy
Boards of Canada - Not for me this, and when an album is this poor it’s bound to be too long 3
Francis of Delirium - Is this our first Luxembourger? It’s pretty good stuff even though I thought Modern Madonna was about the director of In Bruges. Also, the third album we’ve done with a track called Sucker Punch 7
Violet Grohl - I liked this, quite varied stuff that only on Often Others has any hint of riding her Dad’s coattails 7.5
Guided by Voices - Solid college rock reminiscent of REM 6.5
TotW - THUM by Violet Grohl
Midfield General - Not one I’ve ever heard of, it’s not particularly my cuppa but not dreadful 5
Guy
Boards of Canada – Jesus. This was a hard listen. I’ve told Erol several times that you have to listen to the end no matter how bad it is. I almost broke my own rules with this one. Experimental and little more than lift music - 4
Francis of Delirium – Quite enjoyed this. She’s got a good voice with sounds a bit Florence-y in places. Some decent indie pop tunes – 7.2
Violet Grohl – I thought this was top notch. Ignoring any nepo-baby suggestions, this is a really good debut album with lots of great tunes on it and plenty of variety. Not as heavy as some of her dad’s stuff which is up my street. Can’t wait to see her at Reading. - 8
Guided by Voices – Andy hit the nail on the head saying it sounded like REM and it also had hints of The Psychedelic Furs in places too. Pretty solid indie rock - 7
TotW – Bug in the Cake by Violet Grohl
Midfield General – Never heard of this bloke or the album but actually enjoyed it. Nice dubby house tunes. Probably more mid-set numbers than hands in the air finale tracks but nonetheless solid. You can feel the Brighton / Fat Boy Slim influences. Good choice – 7.8
Sam
Boards of Canada : mostly yawnsville, with a few decent bits : 4.5
Francis of Delirium : great voice and a good feel to The whole Thing . Phil (OG) and I are going to see her in September. 7.7
Violet Grohl : what a belter ! So many great songs , 3 possible TOTW . 8.5
Guided by Voices : their 43rd (?) album . Fairly good indie rock , nothing stands out tho : 7
TOTW : Bug in the Cake by Violet Grohl
Midfield General: strange I hadn’t heard of this . Mostly good stuff , a few missteps so I’ll go for a 7
Phil.(New)
Boards of Canada 6
Francis of Delirium 7.8
Violet Grohl 6.8
Guided by Voices 6.8
TOTW : Bug in the Cake by Violet Grohl
Midfield General 7.9
Mark D
Boards of Canada 5.25
Went in open minded here. This bored rather than upset me. Good at moments, sounded a bit like an 80s film soundtrack at others. Overall just dragged too much.
Francis of Delirium 7.5
Liked the production and slighly heavier sound mixed with some orchestral stuff. The tunes themselves definitely mainstream but very listenable.
Guided by Voices 6.25
All felt quite bland and didnt inspire much. Dagons Plunger was standout though.
Violet Grohl 7.25
At first I worried it was FF light but slightly chunkier guitars, grungier and slower songs helped convert me. Few really great tracks and definitely look forward to seeing her.
TOTW Violet Grohl - Often Others
Midfield General 7
Enjoyed this as a soundtrack (wouldnt normally choose) and loved the sampling. Ricky 39 had a real groove and Midfielding made me laugh on my commute.
Phil (OG)
Boards of Canada 4.5
There are a few clues in the track titles that tell you to stop listening to this nonsense – Memory death is the first, then a few tracks later it’s All reason departs. If you get as far as You retreat in time and space, you’re done for. Good news is there’s only one more track after that.
Francis of Delirium 7.8
Excellent varied collection of soft rock indie tracks. Francis has a fine voice and the arrangements are inspired. Looking forward to the gig!
Violet Grohl 7.2
Violet has an excellent rock voice and there are plenty of tracks here – 595, Mobile star, Pool of my dreams – that point to a long career. But too many are just generic rock. Next time she needs better collaborators.
Guided By Voices 7.4
Used to be that GBV albums were dotted with half-finished tracks, as if they never bothered to edit. They seem to have tightened up of late and yet they’re still putting out more albums than King Gizzard. Top work, chaps!
TOTW – Francis of Delirium – Little black dress
Classic
Midfield General 4.5
Damian Harris aka Midfield General is the founder of Skint records, who sponsored Brighton and Hove Albion for ten years when they really needed it and for that to have happened he must have sold a lot of copies this album. I’m just glad I didn’t buy one of them.
Simon
Boards of Canada 7
This was always going to divide opinion - with its obscure samples, offkilter beats and strange electronics this has all the tropes that made their 1998 debut such a unique and distinctive album, even if this isn't as memorable. There's still no-one else around who sounds like them though and for that they should be commended.
Francis of Delirium 7.5
Impressed by this - it's definitely a bit Flo-like so not wildly original, but she's got a fine voice and in the title track, Open Up Your Mouth To Love and Requiem for a Dying Day it's got a handful of big, catchy tunes.
Violet Grohl 8
Liked this a lot more than the recent Foo Fighters effort - has an interesting variety of styles but she pulls them all off with aplomb. An excellent debut.
Guided by Voices 7
They're not going to be setting the world alight anytime soon but thought this was a solid effort considering it's their 45th album (according to Wiki).
TotW: Francis of Delirium - Run, Run Pure Beauty
Midfield General 7
Very much has the feel of turn of the century Brighton big beat so not surprised to read Phil's comments earlier - still have a bit of a soft spot for this style even if it's had its day in the sun.
Annette
Boards of Canada: 4
Francis of delirium: 6.5
Violet Grohl: 8
Guided by Voices: 6.5
TOTW: THUM by Violet Crohl
Classic: Midfield General - 7
Matt
Boards of Canada - 5.7
Francis of Delirium - 7.8
Violet Grohl - 8
Guided by Voices - 6.2
TOTW - Bug in the Cake, Violet Grohl
Paul
Boards of Canada (5.5)
A couple of interesting moments but found it hard work overall, just a bit dull.
Francis of Delirium (7.2)
Enjoyed that,strayed a bit towards Florence & the Machine at times but good stuff overall.
Guided by Voices (7)
Solid if unspectacular rock and like others thought the was a hint of REM in the vocals, especially in the 2nd half.
Violet Grohl (7.8)
Good stuff, clearly has talent in her own right.
TOTW - Violet Grohl - Often Others
Midfield General (8)
New one on me, but some enjoyable Big Beats tunes. Good choice!
Carlo
Boards of Canada – 5.1
From the intro, I was hoping some tunes would shine through – maybe a bit of Daft Punk magic! However, that was quickly wiped away by some bizarre choices of sounds, beats and dialogue.
Francis of Delirium – 6.8
An easy, if slightly eerie, voice to listen to that didn’t offend.
Violet Grohl – 6.7
Nice contrast of light, airy vocals to the music, which worked fairly well. Although the occasional heavy drums and guitars brought me back down.
Guided By Voices – 5.9
Yep, I could definitely hear hints of R.E.M, along with flashes of an older, deeper, sounding David Bowie. Unfortunately, it’s nowhere near the level of either of them.
TOTW: Violet Grohl – Mobile Star
Classic – Midfield General – 6.1
Some intriguing sounds going on throughout, although it felt a little dated.
Erol
Boards of Canada – 5.5
Francis of Delirium – 7.3
Violet Grohl – 7.5
Guided By Voices – 6.9
TOTW: Higher, Francis of Delirium
Classic – Midfield General 7.5.
Mark KE
Boards Of Canada - 7.5 - crazy immersive electronica, found this quite hypnotic. And not from Canada it seems, from way up in the north of Scotland.
Francis Of Delirium - 7.5 - great voice, really distinctive and a nice twist on the indie guitar genre as a result.
Violet Grohl - 7 - wears its Foos / QOTSA influences clearly on its sleeve, this is a decent debut and would like to catch her at the festival (secret set with the old man perhaps...?)
Guided By Voices - 7.5 - for a band with over 40 albums I reckon this sounds pretty with it still. REM / Psychedelic Furs vibes as has been noted already, I reckon I would have been into them although would have been a poor man if I'd tried to keep up with buying all their output.
TOTW - Little Black Dress, by Francis Of Delirium
Jim
Boards of Canada 5
It’s OK, but I think you have concentrate very hard to pick up the clever, interesting moments, and I failed to do that on 2 (honest) listens.
Francis of Delirium 7
Enjoyed her Florence-lite (which is a good thing) indie-pop. The less overpowering vocals allowed some nice tunes to flourish
Violet Grohl 7.5
Some tip top nepo rock here. I found her voice reminded me of her pops as much as the tunes. Hopefully, she’s not on too early on the Sunday at the festival.
Guided by Voices 6.5
Nice proggy vibe, just lacking standout tracks
TOTW: Cool Buzz by Ms Grohl
Midfield General 8
Was a fan when this big beat sound was in its pomp (late 90s?), and a handful of tracks took me right back to some great nights out. Devil in Sports Casual and General of the Midfield are terrific (it didn’t need the animals to Africa silliness mind).
Thursday night at Po Na Na anyone ?
Adam
Boards of Canada 7
Quite enjoyed this mix of weird and ambient soundscapes. Good to work to, wouldn’t do another full sit through on its own.
Francis of Delirium 7
More indie with a slight country. Lots out there covering similar sounds but she’s got a great voice, it’s upbeat, and gives enough to be interesting throughout.
Violet Grohl 7
Saw Violent doing a cameo while watching Foo’s a few years ago. Didn’t think much then. Stand corrected with this album. Doesn’t have the same intensity as her father - but standing on her own she has some good tunes here. Hoping she adds a bit more edge and bite in her next outing, straying towards genericism at times.
Guided By Voices 6
Some ok indie rock tunes on here - but nothing razzle dazzle.
TOTW: Frances of Delirium - Little Black Dress
Classic – Midfield General 7
Never listened to this before. Interesting beats. Reach Out and Coatnoise great tracks.
Justin
Boards of Canada - Always love a bit of ambient soundscape. Prefer the heavier beats of The Orb but this is still a good album. 7.1
Francis of Delirium - Grew on me although a bit MOR. 6.5
Violet Grohl - Not a massive Foos fan so was expecting much but it is actually a good rock album and I prefer it to the Foos 7
Guided by Voices - Guided by REM particularly the second half. 6.7
TOTW Boards of Canada - Into The Magic Land
Midfield General - Big Beat was a great an original sound. For whatever reason it hasn't aged brilliantly but I still enjoyed it. 7
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